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Thursday, March 1, 2012

March 8 strike at Croatia Airlines

Unhappy unions plan flight disruptions

Four Croatia Airlines unions will go on strike next Thursday, March 8, if their demands for a revised collective agreement are not met. The four trade unions count approximately 650 employees. They have put up ten demands to the airline’s management. If their demands were to be met, Croatia Airlines will have to fork out an additional 2.3 million euros in 2012 and a further 3 million euros in 2013. The additional costs would offset the carrier’s plans to further cut down on its losses. The airline finished 2011 with a loss of 10 million euros, which is down 52% on 2010.

There has been growing discontent amongst Croatia Airlines’ pilots who are unhappy with work conditions and what it sees as incompetent management. Their hundred page revival plan for the company was struck down by the management earlier in the year. Things were made worse when a daily newspaper published an article claiming that Croatia Airlines’ pilots are overpaid and work the least in Europe, an article the pilots believe was planted by the management. It came after pilots told the media that the carrier’s Dash 8s are unsafe and experience constant technical faults. Besides the pilots, cabin crew are also unhappy with their work conditions. Only the airline’s technicians and engineers have managed to come to an agreement with the management.

Croatia Airlines claims that if the strike action goes ahead on March 8 it will cost the carrier 200.000 euros and disrupt flights and passengers. Meanwhile, the Croatian government yesterday formally awarded Aéroports de Paris the concession over Zagreb Airport, much to the discontent of the airport’s unions.

they are overpain and working way to less as they shuld, just like Adria pilots. To high salary for the company with big minus on acound. They shuld understand if someone doesent have money eaven they can not get it. But, they are playing goods and they dont care if CA goes underground. They will find new company to work for, but what about other workers who are dependend on CA? They dont care

@ AnonymousMar 1, 2012 12:39 AMYou should be ashamed.Adria's employees agreed to new collective which has the same working hours as every other airline company in the europe whith salaries which can not be compared even with Albanian pilots.Salaries for all company are less than 15% of outcomes, this is not seen in any airline company.

I do not know how much Croatian pilots are working but I know how much Adria's are.They have limitations as every other pilots in EUBUTif airline does not have flights to fly, how can they work on limitations than???So Adria's all employees can work for NOTHING and there would still be a 'big minus on acound', a loss.

So if you have any dignity, you will correct your statement.

And about the annonymous before me, I think Adria or any other airline should cover the flights.Airlines (and other companies) have to get the point that they have human beings for employees not robots.

If Adria's or Croatia's employees are not happy with the work requirements and conditions, let them find a job somewhere else where they can be paid more. Maybe Ryanair or EasyJet will offer them more. It's a freedom of choice. You don't like something - you are free to go. Asking for higher wages from an airline that's already having big losses is absurd. Time to get rid of the old communist mentality, when people made money and did nothing. If we were so productive in ex YU we wouldn't be where we are now. You all union supporters shut up and go back to work.

The majority of work force in ex YU, especially those who work in the public sector and having government jobs are lazy bunch of bureaucrats completely incompetent and corrupted with some kind of a self-entitlement that they can demand anything they want. Sooner or later most of the companies will be privatized and those who don't will demise. Can't wait that moment to see those lazy asses flying out of their positions and being replaced with someone who actually does their work.

Resting from what???? Sitting on an airplane for max 2 hrs a flight segment. Give me a break. Those pilots act as they are flying 747 non-stop to Australia and not a Dash 8 to Sarajevo. As Sam mentioned, if they don't like it, let them find a better employer who is willing to pay them more.

The shorter flights results in a dramatic increase in pilot work load, they have to do more in a shorter amount of time. When weather or some other factor may disrupt the 'norm' of the flight this again requires the pilots to work harder to get the aircraft safely to its destination. I can see you have never flown an aircraft especially one in IFR conditions or on a short flight in very busy airspace so you most probably are I’ll equipped to comment on this. All your senses are required and the amount of energy you actually use is quite surprising. It’s not uncommon to see a pilot finish a high work load short flight literally covered in sweat on a cool day!

Totally agree, 99% people here have never flown and airplane in VFR whatever in IFR.

And comparing B747 to a DH8 :S

with B747 you take off, autopilot on for 11 hours you make one landing per dayand you are paid 11 hours out of lets say 13 hour of dutyin DH8 you make 6 landings per day in 13 hours of duty and you are paid 7 if there are long flights.Same in Adria with CRJ2/9.

And after all that, you have a rest period of how much?I have never seen longhaul crews resting just for 12hours or so, they were always a few days at their destination.

I would like to see people in the region being paid more not less and in all industries not just aviation. What I don't understand is how OU can be in such a financial position where pay cuts are on the agenda. Money is being siphoned from this company for sure.

I just read the post by Purger (and this is nothing personal) but seems to me that the Unions here again are way out of touch of today’s business reality. If this is how they negotiate with the OU management then I do not blame OU for not taking them seriously and I would urge OU employers to seek new collective representation in the future.

Can anyone provide a link to this '100-page plan' I'd love to have a read of these claims and demands!

OU (in fact, many companies and people in the entire country) needs to move out of its socialistic-operational mindset to survive in a capitalistic EU, or they will go under. And so must end the corruption, siphoning and dodgy deals. Otherwise the country will end up in even more a basketcase situation.

A comparison of staff to aircraft ratio would prove interesting: does OU match up with the world's best? Or even Europe's best? Or is it like AI or MH which have overly inflated numbers, which contribute to their systemic losses??

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